London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine v. London School of Economics
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine (LSHTM) have taken part in one previous series, in 2012, when they
reached the repechage round. This year LSHTM consisted of Andy Taylor, Rebecca
Glover, Anjaneya Bapat, and their captain Sarah Legrand. I don’t know how many
times, if any, the LSE have competed before, since JP didn’t say. The team
consisted of Peter Sims, Jeffrey Mo, Pedro Franco de Campos Pinto, and their
skipper Jimmy Chen.
Sarah Legrand buzzed in extremely early to
answer the first question correctly with Aristotle. Only one bonus on Caribbean
cuisine was taken. Sarah Legrand buzzed in early again for the second starter,
supplying the correct answer of meritocracy. LSHTM took a full set of bonuses
on poets and their responses to war and revolution. Eager to follow the lead of
his skipper, Anjaneya Bapat buzzed in early to identify a description of the
sternum. No bonuses were taken on silicon. The picture starter showed us a
graphic representation of the name of an opera. A barber’s pole and an orange
sat up and begged for the Barber of Seville, and Sarah Legrand buzzed in
somewhat apologetically. Three more of the same followed, only this time they
had to supply the name of the composer of each as well. Only one could be
taken, still, LSHTM were leading by 65 points, and LSE had yet to score. A
state of affairs which Jimmy Chen remedied with the very next question, giving
the teams a series of works by one of my all time favourite writers, W.M.
Thackeray. One bonus on triptychs meant that they trailed 65 – 15 at the ten
minute mark.
Emboldened by their first success, Jimmy Chen buzzed
in for the next starter, knowing full well that a question that starts with –In
1769 – and ends with –actor?- will more often than not be looking for David
Garrick. Bonuses on Lord Curzon provided a further 10 points.Nobody knew which
two neighbouring planets have the lowest and highest geometric albedos. I had
geometric albedos once – a bit of ointment cleared them up. I’m here all week
ladies and gents. They were Mercury and Venus. Sarah Legrand didn’t think she
knew about the golden age of Danish painting – but she did. Lines from films
from the 1930s where both film and actor were required just showed how last
week’s controversial periodic table might have been dealt with. When LSE
offered “Gone With the Wind – Rhett Butler” for the line – Frankly My dear etc.
– first JP gave a prompt – The Actor please. Mind you, they still persisted
with Rhett Butler, thereby failing to add to their score from this bonus set. For
the music starter, we had a classic pop song from the 80s rather than classical
music. Peter Sims was first in to identify the B-52’s Rock Lobster. Apparently
the lead singer Fred Schneider is known for his sprechgesang style of singing –
speak singing literally. Three other examples followed. LSE managed none of
them. I didn’t get the Pixies, didn’t know the song but recognized Jarvis
Cocker and Pulp for the last, and of course knew the late Ian Dury’s Hit Me With
Your Rhythm Stick. I was alittle surprised that it took so long for anyone to
get the surname linking the Nobel Prize laureate who shared the award for with
Florey and Chain, the director of Gone With the Wind, and the author who wrote
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and remarkably Sarah Legrand had a starter wrong,
which allowed Jeffrey Mo in with Fleming – Alexander – Victor and Ian. Not Bob,
sadly. IT and technology companies didn’t help a huge amount, but nonetheless
the gap was coming down, and at this stage was only 10 points. Sarah Legrand looked most surprised that JP
accepted her answer of Red Queen Hypothesis (more on that later). Bonuses on
genetics provided just another 5 points. I didn’t understand the next question,
but Jeffrey Mo supplied the correct answer of Ketones. Weren’t they a group of
comedy cops in the early days of Hollywood? A tricky UC special set on capital
cities beginning and ending with A supplied two more correct answers. Which
meant that LSE had had the best of the previous ten minutes, and now trailed by
a single bonus, 90 to 85.Game on.
A great UC special asked which three digit
number results when you take the roman numerals of the name of the muse of
History. This one saw neither team quite manage 151 (CLI and O).Peter Sims knew
that Pascal Paoli founded a republic on Corsica, which put LSE into the lead
for the first time in the competition. On the bonuses they were slightly
unlucky not to be given Ludwig I for Louis I son of Charlemagne – with the
reason being that although he is known in some areas as Ludwig, the fact is
that the name was in the question. A bit harsh. Of the two remaining bonuses on
medieval treaties, LSE managed one. For the second picture starter nobody
identified a beach scene by Monet. Show me the Monet. Jimmy Choo earned the
rollover bonuses when he correctly identified the river that joins the Severn
in the Severn estuary after rising on Plynlimmon as the Wye. I was pleased with
myself for getting a full house of beach scenes, of which LSE managed one
bonus. They led by 20 points, but it was still anybody’s game. Anjaneya Bapat
knew the old chestnut that Sir Joshua Reynolds was the first president of the
Royal Academy. A full house of bonuses on William Tyndale was just what the
doctors ordered. Now, I’ve watched it three times, and I still can’t tell you
what it is that the Greek letter gamma symbolizes, but nobody had it anyway.
Sarah Legrand buzzed in very early to identify the author of Dead Man Walking.
Asexual reproduction in fungi sounded like a laugh a minute category for
bonuses, but they still managed one of them, and now they led again by 15. Now,
if you concatenate the silent letters in Honour, biscuit and mnemonic, you end
up with hum. Jimmy Chen was close with hun, but the cigar went to Sarah
Legrand.. 2 bonuses on sea going mammals looked invaluable at this stage. Peter
Sims knew that the Economist was founded as a measure against the Corn Laws. Only
one bonus on quotations from Hamlet could be taken. Jeffrey Mo recognized the
first woman to be elected to the Academie Francaise. JP told LSE that if they got
a full house of bonuses they would take the lead. The subject of palaeoanthropology
promised little, which didn’t matter anyway since time ran out and the gong was
struck before they could answer the first. Well played both teams. Congratulations
LSHTM, and bad luck to LSE – 140 may do it, but I think they may well be at
least 10 points short of a repechage place by the end of the first round heats.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
Was it my imagination, or did JP seem
particularly taken with LSHTM in general, and Sarah Legrand in particular. She
reminded me a bit of Andi Macdowall. When she buzzed in with the Barber of
Seville he almost apologized to her for having to ask, saying, “It’s
embarrassing, isn’t it.”
It took a while for him to add anything of
note, but he almost purred when she offered the correct answer of “Brussels” to
complete the full house on Tyndale, saying “You always seem so pleasantly
astonished when you get it right.”
Then, at the end of the show, while he merely
thanked LSE for joining us, he went as far as to say “You were a delightful
team. . . “ I may be wrong, but I do wonder if our JP is a bit of a smitten
kitten, people.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already
Know Of The Week
The theory that states that species must continually
evolve to survive is and maintain the same positions in their relative
ecosystem is called the Red Queen hypothesis.
